Alan Myers – Influential Devo Drummer – Dies From Cancer

Devo’s drummer Alan Myers has passed away from cancer, the band confirmed on their website. Myers sat on the drums during Devo’s pomp, rattling the toms for their 1980 mainstream hit "Whip It."

Devo Art Of Elysium's 4th Annual 'Heaven' Charity Gala

"I think he probably influenced a lot of drummers that are out there now because he was really great at being very precise and minimalist," Mark Mothersbaugh, the singer and founder of Devo, told Reuters."His minimalist style really suited what we were doing well," said Mothersbaugh, a founder of the band. "We always regretted it when he left." Their website, Club Devo, posted an entry titled: “DEVO MOURNS PASSING OF ALAN MYERS”. In it, they said: “DEVO mourns the passing of our friend Alan Myers, DEVO’s most well-known drummer who died June 24, 2013 after his battle with cancer.”

Here are Devo performing in California

Myers joined Devo in 1976 and left after their 1984 album Shout. An eclectic band, Devo would master the minimalist style, while influencing bands of many genres. After a hiatus, Devo reformed in 2009; Myers was working in Los Angeles as an electrician and playing music in various groups at the time. Drummer Josh Freese also paid his respects, tweeting, “RIP Alan Myers. 1 of my all time favs. An underrated/brilliant drummer. Such an honor playing his parts w/Devo. Godspeed Human Metronome.”

And here they are again, in Cali

Devo co-founder Gerald Casale paid tribute to Myers via a series of Twitter posts, telling followers, “In praise of Alan Myers, the most incredible drummer I had the privilege to play with for 10 years. Losing him was like losing an arm. RIP!! I begged him not to quit Devo. He could not tolerate being replaced by the Fairlight and autocratic machine music. I agreed. Alan, you were the best – a human metronome and then some. A once in a lifetime find thanks to Bob Mothersbaugh. U were born to drum Devo!”